URI President Robert Carothers to be named honorary senator by German university

KINGSTON, R.I. -- June 1, 1999 -- University of Rhode Island President Robert L. Carothers will be named Honorary Senator of the Technical University of Braunschweig in Braunschweig, Germany on June 2.

Carothers will be the first non-German to receive the honor, which is held by only eight other living persons.

Among those holding the honor are the current minister president of the German State of Lower Saxony, Gerhard Gloglowski, and the former chief executive officer of Volkswagen, Karl Hahn.

The ceremony will be held as part of a meeting of the Advisory Board of URI's International Engineering Program, which leads students for degrees in both language and engineering. The program unites the efforts of humanities and engineering faculty, the private and public sectors, as well as universities at home and abroad. It includes an exchange partnership with the Technical University of Braunschweig. With an enrollment of 15,000, it is Germany's oldest and one of the leading technical universities.

"It is a great honor to represent the men and women of the University of Rhode Island who have built this wonderful model of international partnership," said President Carothers. "I am particularly grateful to President Bernd Rebe for his leadership and his friendship."

Carothers has been a strong supporter of the International Engineering Program and has been part of the effort to build an exchange with Braunschweig, which includes the unique opportunity to complete degrees at the partner schools. About 30 students currently participate in the exchange between URI and Braunschweig each year.

This fall, 15 URI students will travel to Germany and 17 Braunschweig students will come to URI's Kingston Campus.

Begun in 1987, the URI International Engineering Program, also offers programs in Spanish and French. The partnership with Braunschweig is five years old.

President Bernd Rebe of the German university has led the effort to recognize Carothers' leadership in encouraging partnerships inside and outside of the University's walls.

"President Rebe wanted to honor President Carothers for the special relationship that has developed between the two schools," said URI Professor John Grandin, director of the International Engineering Program and chair of URI's Department of Languages. "He and President Carothers have gained a great deal of respect for each other."

Grandin said Carothers will be presented with a framed, hand-written certificate documenting his appointment as Senator and a medallion.

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For Further Information: Dave Lavallee 401-874-2116